It's all the in the Details

So, today was a lesson in details. The students and staff did an amazing job....but arrival and dismissal need some work! I say that every year, but this year, I came to some realizations. Better late than never!

First, although I usually love and embrace change of most any kind, the time change really threw a kink into the district and our community. Traffic was obscene and although we have a pretty syncopatic system with the school across the street, our shared throughway looked much like an LA freeway at rush hour for the better part of 45 minutes today. And let's just say...cool heads did NOT prevail! I walk out and everyone who has arrived first and filled the parking lot is in front of the school, excited to drop of their students for day 1. Since the lot was filled, the next set of arrivals thought it brilliant to park in the carpool line and leave their cars to bring their precious cargo inside! And don't even get me started on the crosswalk people! Change...hard for most and it doesn't usually bring out the best in people!

Also - three and four year olds love to be at home with their families. Even the poor ones, the mentally ill ones and the hungry ones! And, convincing them to stay with us can quickly get ugly. One grandma came pretty close to walking out of school half dressed because her grandson had such a tight grip on her dress! I know that I for one was covered in a soupy and dried mixture of my sweat from a 108 degree day mixed in with tears and other such facial ick from crying kids that were loved till they stopped said crying. I saw a huge dad leave sobbing because his daughter was having such a hard time separating...absolutely heartbreaking for daddy to go through.

But the greatest thing about our jobs...we get to start over tomorrow. New procedures will be learned day by day by our parents, kids will come to believe that school is a great place to spend the day, filled with love and learning. And the snot will come with much less frequency every day...which is a hopeful sign. And so today...did I do the best work of my career? What about tomorrow? I plan to make it happen!